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He took a job as deputy, then just last year when the sheriff retired the small community voted him into the position. He had an area to protect, and just two deputies and a daytime dispatcher.
He was making a life here in Destiny. Even though his sister, Jodi, lived in Durango with her son, Nicolas, she was able to come on weekends. He visited his mother nearly every day.
Yes, he was dealing with things…and now, Paige had shown up. For years, he’d managed to keep her out of his thoughts. He now knew as soon as he’d set eyes on her again, it would be impossible to keep her out of his heart.
“Reed Larkin pointed his gun at you?” Morgan gasped as she sank into her chair.
Paige swallowed a bite of her sandwich. She was hungry and the food was actually helping her queasy stomach. “In all fairness to him, I was trespassing.”
Her older sister brushed back her long auburn curls. “And what were you doing in the old Merlin building?”
Paige had arrived home last night, just in time to attend her younger sister’s, Leah’s, engagement party. She had been grateful that all the attention had been on the happy couple, and she hadn’t had to answer a lot of questions. Questions about her career, her future.
She wasn’t sure that she wanted everyone to know about her plans…yet. “Can you keep a secret?”
Her sister’s green eyes sparkled. “Do you want to pinky swear, or would my word as mayor be good enough?”
Paige laughed. She had missed the interaction with her sisters so much. “Your word is good enough. I’m taking a leave of absence from my job. I’m rethinking my career goals.”
Morgan brought her sandwich to her mouth and paused. “Does that mean you’re thinking about coming home?”
Paige’s thoughts turned to Reed. She’d be living in the same town with a man who’s welcome had been on the chilly side. So what! This wasn’t high school. He would just have to deal with it.
“Yes, but please, don’t say anything to Mom and Dad just yet. I have to consider if I can make a living here.” She couldn’t seem to come out with the words, I’m thirteen weeks pregnant.
Morgan still looked skeptical. “What about your work with the D.A.?”
Paige sighed. “I need a change.” And preferably to be far away from her baby’s father. Drew McCarran had made it clear that he wanted no part of her in his life. She should be happy about that since all he’d said since they met had been lies.
She forced a smile. “Maybe I’ll open my own law practice. What do you think?”
“It’s a great idea.” Morgan jumped out of her chair and came around the desk to pull Paige into her arms.
“Oh, Paige, this is wonderful. First, Leah returns home and finds the love of her life. Now, you’re back to open your own practice. Leah will be so excited.”
The phone rang and Morgan reached to answer it. Paige went to the large window overlooking the town square. There was a comfort seeing the three-tiered fountain where birds fluttered around cascading water. A white lattice-covered gazebo brought memories of band concerts on warm summer nights.
As one of the Keenans’three adopted daughters, Paige and her sisters, Morgan and Leah, had been blessed with charmed lives. Everyone in town had embraced the two toddlers and one infant who’d been left with Tim and Claire Keenan twenty-seven years ago.
Destiny’s citizens would be thrilled that Paige was returning home. But what would they think of her when they discovered she’d made mistakes, and now, she had to deal with the consequences.
Morgan walked up beside her. “Sorry about that.”
“Well, you are the mayor.”
They both broke into laughter.
It was Paige who sobered and said, “Why don’t we keep this between you and me? With the wedding in two weeks, I don’t want any attention taken from the bride.” And the news of the baby definitely would do that. “No matter what I decide, I have a month’s leave to investigate my options.”
Morgan nodded. “You’re right. We need to concentrate on Leah’s wedding.”
Two weeks. Paige had a two-week reprieve. Her thoughts turned to Reed. Could he put his feelings aside, and keep her secret that long?
Later that evening, the Inn’s kitchen was buzzing with activity while Claire Keenan prepared the family meal. Paige’s mouth watered when her mother pulled the large rump roast trimmed with red potatoes and carrots from the oven. Claire was easily the best cook in town, and Morgan ran a close second. Even Leah had learned a few things, but Paige was a lost cause in the culinary department. But since her appetite had recently increased with her pregnancy, she’d decided she better learn how to feed herself.
“Would you mind setting the table?” her mother asked as she added flour to the old cast-iron skillet to begin making brown gravy.
Paige’s stomach growled. “Sure. Anything to hurry things along. I’m starved.”
Her mother raised an eyebrow. “Good. You need to eat. You’re too thin.”
Not for long, Paige thought. How would her mother take the news about the baby? She walked back to the cabinets, knowing she had to tell the family and soon. She released a breath. Just not tonight.
Her mother looked away from her task, her gray-blue eyes full of concern. “Are you all right, Paige?”
Paige carried the stack of plates to the large, round table. “I’m fine, Mom. Maybe a little tired. I’ve just finished a difficult case,” she told her. She wasn’t exactly lying. She had finished a big drug case. And she ended her relationship with her baby’s father.
“Well, your father and I are glad you finally took some time off.” Claire smiled. “And we plan to spoil you while you’re home.”
Her mother’s words brought tears to Paige’s eyes. She worked swiftly to set the big, round maple table, then looked out through the large kitchen window to the setting sun. Large pine trees lined the back of the property, where a half dozen cabins had been built along a rocky creek.
Paige had loved growing up here. Any kid would. She didn’t remember much before she and her sisters had become part of the Keenan family, but she knew she couldn’t have had a better childhood, or more loving parents.
Now, with her baby on the way, Paige had questions about her own birth. About where she’d come from. Why had her biological mother left her three daughters on a stranger’s doorstep? Maybe it was time to get some answers.
Paige’s father walked into the kitchen. “It smells great in here,” he said with a big grin and his dark eyes twinkled. But then she’d never known the big, burly Irishman not to be ready with a smile, a hug and a kiss.
“You say that every time you smell food,” Claire said.
Tim Keenan came up behind his wife of nearly forty years, wrapped his arms around her and murmured in her ear. Claire blushed, and looked up at him with such unbridled love that Paige had to glance away.
The two had always acted like this. Paige had taken their relationship for granted. Now, she realized how special it was. Paige envied them. She’d worked harder on her career as a lawyer than on a personal life. Then she’d met Drew. Life had been perfect for a time, then everything came crashing down around her. When she needed him the most he wanted her gone from his life.
The pain Drew had caused her would never compare to the heartache she’d experienced when Reed left all those years ago.
It was an all-too-familiar story.
Back then she and Reed Larkin were friends and it had developed into a crush by the time they’d reached high school. All the girls had been attracted to the rough around the edges guy. Paige knew his tough act had been a shield.
Since Reed’s mother had worked at the Inn, Paige had developed a friendship with him. That was until graduation day and they’d both had decisions to make. Paige had always been college bound and then on to law school.
Reed had opportunity for college, too. To leave Destiny and the stigma of his father behind him. But he was willing to turn down a full scholarship to go with her. Not that she hadn’t cared for him, just the opposite, but she’d wanted him to have a chance. In the process of convincing him to go away to school, she had to lie, causing her to lose the man she loved…and her best friend.
The familiar ache tightened in her chest as the memories flooded her head. She quickly pushed them away and continued to lay out the flatware. She had to stop reminiscing about the past. The future was what was important now. All her focus should be on her baby.
Men were off-limits.
Reed lived in Destiny, but that didn’t mean they had to keep running into each other. It wasn’t as if they moved in the same social circles. Her only concern was that he keep her secret for now.
The sound of voices caused Paige to turn around. Her sisters, Morgan and Leah, came through the door. Her baby sister’s brown eyes were brimming with happiness, and why not? Leah was engaged to a great guy. She and Holt would be married soon, and they were adopting an eight-year-old boy, Corey. A complete family.
“Sorry, we’re late,” Leah said. “But we were busy trying to finish up some wedding plans.” She took both her sisters’ hands. “I need a maid of honor, and I couldn’t choose between the two of you.”
“It’s okay, Leah…” Paige began to say Morgan could have the honor when her sister’s grip tightened.
“Just hear me out,” she said. “Holt and I talked it over. The only fair thing to do was draw a name. I mean, we’ll all be getting married someday, anyway. So we can all take turns. The name I picked was yours, Paige.”
Tears flooded Paige’s eyes. “Oh, Leah, I wouldn’t have been hurt if you chose Morgan…”
“Stop it, Paige.” Leah smiled through her own tears. “Remember you don’t want to upset the bride-to-be. So just say yes.”
She glanced at Morgan. She smiled and nodded. “I’d be honored to be your maid of honor, Leah.”
A tall, good-looking rancher, Holt Rawlins, walked to his bride-to-be and hugged her. His sandy colored hair had been recently cut, leaving a soft wave over his forehead. He had an easy smile and green eyes that sparkled with mischief.
“Boy, am I glad that’s over,” he said. “I’m also glad that I didn’t have so much trouble choosing my best man.”
“Who’s doing the honors?” Paige asked.
“Holt asked me.”
Everyone turned to see Reed Larkin standing in the doorway. He was dressed in jeans and a pale blue, Western-cut shirt, and looked devilishly handsome.
“Isn’t it great?” Leah gushed. “Reed is going to be escorting you down the aisle, and you two get to toast us at the reception.”
“Yes, that’s great,” Paige agreed as she caught the smile on Reed’s face.
So much for not running into each other.
CHAPTER TWO
AFTER dinner, Paige made her way out to the porch. With all the wedding talk it was getting a little stifling inside the kitchen. She also hated the fact that she was keeping a secret from her family. An important, life-changing secret. Even though she’d come home several times since moving to Denver, tonight seemed different. Soon a lot of things were going to be different.
Leah was getting married in a matter of days. Paige was going to have a baby. The Keenan family was growing. In a few months the clan would have added three new members.
She pressed her hand against her stomach protectively, a habit she’d acquired since learning of her pregnancy. This wasn’t the way her mother and father had expected to welcome their grandchild. It hadn’t been how Paige planned, either. She’d planned to bring her special guy home this summer to meet her parents.
How could she’ve been so wrong about a person? She’d believed him when he said he was divorced—that he hated his wife, Sandy.
The day Paige had learned about her pregnancy, Drew announced that he was going back to his wife. In truth they’d only been separated for the past year, and Drew finally admitted that he wanted a second chance at his marriage. What she hadn’t expected was his anger and his threat not to get in the way of his reconciliation. Then he stormed out of her condo and her life.
Paige wiped a tear from her cheek, refusing to cry over the man, or the past any longer. It was all about the future. The Keenans were going to be her baby’s family. She and her child didn’t need any man, especially a man who didn’t want them.
“Would you mind some company?”
Paige tensed and glanced over her shoulder to see Reed. She shrugged. “It’s a free world.”
“Thanks,” he told her, nodding toward the back door. “There’s way too much talk about Gerber daisies and banana cream or strawberry filling for the wedding cake going on inside.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Can’t take it? And you’re supposed to be the stronger sex.”
He cocked a thumb toward the kitchen. “If you think I’m in bad shape, you should see how blurry-eyed Holt is.”
That made Paige smile. Although she didn’t know the groom well, she liked him. “Losing testosterone, huh?”
“Be careful, I’m feeling the urge to spit and find a belching contest.” Reed walked to the railing, sat down.
“I’d appreciate it if you’d resist.”
“I’ll try.” He leaned against the post and looked out at the rows of moonlit pines. “This is nice.”
Paige wanted to ignore the fact that his nearness bothered her. What was wrong with her? She’d left those feelings back in high school. “I know. I’ve missed this place.”
Reed turned to Paige. He could see that she’d been crying. He knew from his sister’s pregnancy that women got emotional. Paige coming home to tell her family about her baby had to be rough. “Your family is going to be happy about the baby.”
She glared at him. “I don’t want to talk about this. And you promised that you weren’t going to say anything…”
He raised a hand. “Hey, you have to know I wouldn’t break a promise to you. I’m just trying to be a friend, Paige.”
She remained silent.
He changed the subject. “Have you seen a doctor?”
She nodded. “Just to verify that I’m pregnant and to start my vitamins.”
“You need a doctor here?”
She hugged herself. “I want an obstetrician.”
“My sister had a good doctor. She’s in Durango.”
She nodded, but looked sad.
“Are you sure that you don’t want to contact the father…?”
“That’s the last thing I want,” Paige whispered as she stared out into the night. Reed felt the familiar ache of wanting to take her in his arms and tell her he was here for her.
Damn, he hated that she could still turn him inside out. She’d come back to town and all he wanted was to be with her.
“I’m sorry…that things didn’t work out for you, Paige.” As much as he wished it, he couldn’t make this right for her. Reed looked over at her and instantly wanted her. He always had, but it wouldn’t work for either of them. They were both carrying too much baggage.
He stood up. “I should be going. I work tonight.” He started to walk away, then stopped. “If you need to get a hold of me for anything, just call the station. If I’m not there, leave a message on my voice mail.”
Paige turned around. “Reed, this isn’t a good idea…I need to stand on my own. I have a lot to figure out.”
He smiled as he reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, grazing her incredibly soft cheek. “I know, I was just thinking that if you needed a friend.”
Her lower lip quivered. “We tried that once.”
